Curtain stretcher



July 22, 1941. w. w. BLOCK 2,250,057

A CURTAIN sTRETcHER Filed Augj1'4, 1940 2 sheets-sheet 1 July 22, 1941.w. w. BLOCK 2,250,057

CURTAIN STRETGHERV Filed Aug. 14, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July22, 1941 UNITED ST `azsaosi 2,250,057 CURTAIN s'rRE'rcHEn Walter W.Block, Kenosha, twis. Application August 14, 1940, serial No. 352,485 f(creer-'99) l r3 Claims.

This invention relates to curtain stretchers `and more particularly tothe hinges of the horizontal rails of foldable type of curtainstr-etchers. 'Some curtain stretchers are ma-de vso that when not Vinuse they may be completely taken apart 'into the various elements andstored whereas another type of curtain stretcher known as the foldabl-etype is constructed so th-at only a few "component parts of thestretcher need be removed therefrom and the remaining vparts -rnay 'befolded to provide a compact knocked-down vstructure which may be easilystored an-d which may also be readily set up into operative positionwhen desired. The main component parts of an ordinary curtain stretchercomprise the horizontal rails and vertical posts and in a foldablecurtain stretcher the horizontal r-ails may be provided with hinges ator nea-r their medial point so that one-half of each rail may be foldedback upon the other one-half. In many curtain 'stretchers a verticalpost Vis employed at or near the center hinge of the horizontal rails.In order to fold the horizontal rails it is necessary or desirable torem-ove the vertical post which is arranged at this position. Thisvertical post is generally secured to the horizontal rails by aclampdevice or by a bolt and wing nut connecvtion. This connectingdevice is gener-ally in the way after the vertical post is removed andwhen `folding the horizontal rails into folding position.

It is a primary object of my invention to provide a hinge which willenable folding of the horizontal rails at or near the medial pointwithout in any way interfering with the connecting device at this point.

A connecting device often employed is a bolt and wing nut and in curtainstretchers heretofore constructed it has often been necessary tocompletely remove the wing nut and bolt in order to effect a folding ofthe horizontal rails. Such i removal of the bolt and wing nut oftenresults in the loss or misplacement of these parts and in lany event thereassembling of the parts is rendered difficult.

A further object is to provide a center hinge for the horizontal railsof the curtain stretcher i. ad

which will not necessitate the removal of the bolt and wing nut used forsecuring a vertical post to the horizontal rails at the hinge point. Itis often desirable to reduce the size of a curtain stretcher fortemporary storage when it is inconvenient to take the stretcher apartcompletely for a compact and more or less permanent storage. When suchtemporary storage is desired a housewife or other user of stretcherswants to have the stretcher available for ready use and it is a stillfurther object of my invention to Vprovide hinges for the horizontalrails of a curtain stretcher s-o that it can be; speedily,y simply andwith a minimum ,amount of trouble folded 'on a eiical axis one-half backagainst the other onea i Y Y Other and further objects of the presentinvention will be apparent from the following description and claims andare illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way ofillustration, show a preferred 'embodiment and the principle thereof andwhat I now consider to -be the best mode in which I have contemplatedapplying that principle. Other embodiments of the invention embodyingthe same or equivalent principle may be yused and structural changes maybe made as desired by those `skilled inthe vart with-out departing fromthe present inven- 'tion and the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a portion 'of'a curtainstretcher embodying my invention; Y

Fig. 2 is a sectional View taken on the line Fig. 3 is a detail viewtaken on th OfFg'Z; eline 3 .3

Fig. 4 is .a detail view taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1; Y

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing The hinge comprises twomembers I5 and I6.

The member I5 is secured to section I3 of the rail 9 by any suitablemeans such as the rivets I1 and the member I6 is secured to the sectionvI2 of the rail 9 by similar devices such as rivets I8. The member I5extends beyond the section I and overlaps the section I2 and the memberI o. A portion I9 of the member I5 is pressed upwardly forming shouldersat 20 and 2I to accommodate that part of the member I6 lying on top ofthe section I2. The portion I9 is eX- extended at 22 and the overlyingpart of the member I 6 is similarly Iand co-extensively extended at 23sideways from the rail 9. The exand slightly overlaps the end of thesection I3.

A bolt 26 extends through and beyond the section I2 and the side portionof the member I6 is provided with a suitable nut such as the wing nut2'I. The threads on the outer end of the bolt may be upset to preventaccidental removal of the nut from the bolt. The out away portion 25 ofthe member I5 is notched at 28 so when the sections of the rail arefolded about the pintle 24 the free end of the bolt and the nut 21 willpass through the openings provided by the out away portions 25 and 28into the position shown in Fig. 7 leaving the nut and bolt secure to thesection I2.

A vertical post II is slottedv at 29 to receive the bolt 26 whereuponthe nut 21 may be tightened to secure the post II to the rail 9 as bestshown in Figs. 3 and-4.

A hinge generally indicated by 30 may be of the same structure as thehinge I4 heretofore described but arranged in upside down relation andit maybe preferable in this instance to use a different kind of clampingdevice for securing the vertical post II to the rail I0. Such a clampingdevice is indicated by 3|, Figs. 1 and 2 and which does not embody abolt extending through the rail I but it is possible to provide avertical post of the conventional type having a slot therein and havingthe same type of bolt as the bolt 26 extending through the slot of theVvertical post and through the rail I0 just as the bolt extends throughthe rail 9. The only difference between -the structure and associatedparts of the upper rail and the lower rail is that the lower rail shouldbe adjustable vertically and such adjustment is provided by the clampdevice shown in Figs. 1 and 2 or by the conventional slotarrangementheretofore referred to.

While I have illustrated and described a selectl tions as fall withinthe scope of the following claims:

` I claim:

1. lIn a curtain stretcher, a rail comprising a pair of sections adaptedfor arrangement in end to end relation, a post, a hinge comprising apair of members each rigidly secured to one of said sections at theabutting ends thereof, a pintle securing said members together inpivotal relation, one of said members extending beyond the section towhich it is secured and overlapping the other of said members and theend portion of the other of said sections, said one member being cutaway to receive a portion of said other member, and means mounted in theend portion of the section to which said other member is secured andprojecting through said cut away portion for removably securing saidpost to said rail, whereby said hinge may be operated to fold saidsections one upon another without removal of said post securing means.

2. In a curtain stretcher, a rail comprising a pair of sections adaptedfor arrangement in end to end relation, a post, a hinge comprising apair of members each rigidly secured to one of said sections at theabutting ends thereof, a pintle securing said members together inpivotal relation, one of said members extending beyond the section towhich it is secured and overlapping the other of said members and theend portion of the other of said sections, said one member being outaway to receive a portion of said other member, a bolt projectingthrough the end portion of the section to which said other member issecured and through said portion of said other member, a nut on saidbolt for removably securing said post to said rail to render said hingeinoperative to fold said sections, whereby upon removing said post saidhinge may be operated without removing said nut from said bolt.

3. In a curtain stretcher, a railv comprising a pair of sections adaptedfor arrangement in end to end relation, a post, a hinge comprising apair of members each rigidly secured to one of said sections at theabutting ends thereof, a pintle securing said members together inpivotal relation, one of said members extending beyond the section towhich it is secured and overlapping the other of said members and theend portion of the other of said sections, said one member being cutaway to receive a portion of said other member, a bolt projectingthrough the end portion of the section to which said other member issecured and through said portion of said other member, a nut irremovablyheld on said bolt for removably securing said post to said rail torender said hinge inoperative to fold said sections, whereby uponremoving said post said hinge may be operated without removing said boltand nut.

WALTER W. BLOCK.

